Tyrell Ellison teetered on the brink of another mid-May disappointment Friday afternoon.

Having fouled his first two attempts in his favorite event, Ellison’s final chance in the long jump would keep him alive or send him packing.

The improbable leap not only kept Ellison on the runway; it gave him redemption.

It was also golden.

“I was thinking about just getting on the board so I could at least make it to finals,” Ellison said. “But at the same time I was thinking try to win it on this jump.”

The Muhlenberg junior unleashed a personal-best 23-6 for his second Class AAA gold medal on the opening day of the District 3 Track and Field Championships. He won the high jump earlier in the afternoon.

Conrad Weiser’s Lamont Fowler led Berks sprinters in Friday’s trials. He shares the top seed in the AAA 100 and holds the third in the 200 for today’s finals.

For Ellison, a third foul in the long jump preliminaries would have brought familiar district-meet discouragement.

As a freshman, he didn’t even earn a mark in the long and triple jumps, fouling all of his attempts.

He was a high seed in all three jumps last year, but didn’t even make the trip to Shippensburg University for what school officials called a personal matter.

But Ellison hasn’t been dwelling on those dark clouds.

“I didn’t think about anything in the past,” Ellison said. “This is a new year. I’m thinking about new things.”

Ellison started Friday’s meet by winning the high jump, which was contested indoors due to wet conditions.

No matter that Ellison had never jumped inside before. He borrowed the proper shoes from Wilson pole vaulter Derek Romich and cleared a Berks-best 6-8.

Muhls coach Mike Rowley helped Ellison adjust to a fast runway in the long jump.

“His steps were all over the place,” Rowley said. “We had to make four adjustments before we got the correct one.”

Ellison nearly fouled that last preliminary jump, but recorded a Berks- and personal-best in winning by more than a foot.

Ellison will go for the jumps sweep this morning. He’s seeded second in the triple jump behind Harrisburg’s Hanif Johnson, the reigning state champion.

Friday’s pole vault was also moved inside, where Dodds felt lucky to be competing.

The junior left school Thursday morning with a mysterious reaction. He was “itching like crazy,” broke out in hives and swelled badly.

“It looked like I had been in a bad boxing match,” he said. “You wouldn’t have recognized me.”

Although drained, Dodds felt better Friday. He cleared 14-0 for his second straight district silver.

Ciabattoni, the defending champion in the AA long and triple jumps, competed for the first time in four weeks and finished with a 44-8 in Friday’s triple.

“I wasn’t expecting to jump my best high 45s,” said Ciabattoni, who pulled both hamstrings this spring. “But I guess I just have to deal with it. I really haven’t been able to work out much. So I guess I’m happy for now. We’ll see how I’ll do next week.”